It took a special play on special teams to start the avalanche.
 
The Eastern Washington University football team used a blocked field goal for a touchdown to start an avalanche of 39 unanswered points as EWU opened its 13th appearance in the NCAA Football Championship Subdivision Playoffs by  beating Nicholls 42-21 at Roos Field Saturday (Dec. 1).
 
"It's incredible," said EWU head coach Aaron Best of the victory – his first as a head coach but 15th playoff win as an Eagle. "We have a lot of grit and resilience – that's who we are at Eastern. You can hang around about 40 seconds and you'll understand. I'm proud of this team and it's awesome to come back from a 14-3 deficit and end up winning 42-21."
 
The win advances 10-2 Eastern to the quarterfinals where it will face UC Davis on Saturday, Dec. 8 at 1 p.m. at Roos Field in Cheney, Wash. Tickets will be available starting at noon Sunday (Dec. 2) via goeags.com/tickets.UC Davis defeated Northern Iowa 23-16 on Dec. 1. This Saturday's game will be a rematch of EWU's 59-20 victory on Nov. 10 in Cheney.
 
After falling behind 14-3, sophomore Kedrick Johnson returned a blocked field goal by junior Dylan Ledbetter for a touchdown and start the run of points. Ketner Kupp capped it with a 95-yard interception return for a touchdown – the second-longest in school history.
 
In between, Eastern's offense and defense did its part. After allowing Nicholls to to convert on its first five third down conversions, the Colonels converted just five of its last 12 after entering the game eighth in FCS. Eastern, meanwhile, started one of its first five but finished at 9-of-16 for the game.
 
"When two champions get together, there are going to be punches thrown back and forth," Best said. "They threw more way early on, but we absorbed the punches and got our own punch in when Dylan Ledbetter blocked that ball. The block was awesome, but the return by Kedrick was even more awesome. We could have had momentum at 14-3, but at 14-10 we had a ton of momentum."
 
Eastern fell behind in offense 200-162 at halftime, but had a 269-181 advantage in the second half. For the game, EWU outgained the Colonels 431-381 with 23 rushing yards to give EWU a school-record 3,252 on the season.
 
"The next one is always the biggest one," added Best. "None are any bigger than the others. I do know we are going be at home and our home fans were amazing. I love hearing the fight song and the band is incredible. I hope it's a little bit more slippery next week. When you see your breath you know it's playoff football, and that's always appreciated this time of year."
 
Playing its 15th postseason home game since 2010, the third-seeded Eagles hosted the Colonels from the Southland Conference and Thibodaux, La. It was a battle of conference champions as well, with EWU winning its 10th Big Sky Conference title in school history and the Colonels winning the Southland Conference with a 7-2 record.
 
Eastern (now 10-2) finished the regular season ranked fourth in the STATS Top 25 poll and were third in the American Football Coaches Association poll, The Colonels (now 9-4) ended the regular season ranked 14th in the STATS poll and were rated 13th by the coaches. Right with the Eagles are Weber State (3/4) and UC Davis (7/10), with Montana State also ranked (23/24) and earning a playoff berth with a 7-4 record.
 
 
Records & Rankings . . .
 
* Now 10-2 overall and finishing 7-1 in the Big Sky in 2018, Eastern captured its 10th Big Sky title and a 13th appearance in the FCS Playoffs. Eastern closed the 2017 season with a 7-4 record overall and was 6-2 in the Big Sky Conference in the first season under head coach Aaron Best. This is the 12th-straight season the Eagles will have finished 5-3 or better in the Big Sky, with a 12th-straight winning season and 21st in the last 23 years.
 
* Nicholls finished the season 9-4 after defeating San Diego 49-30 on Nov. 24 in the first round of the playoffs. The Colonels jumped out to leads of 21-7 after the first quarter and 35-10 at halftime in the easy victory. Nicholls rolled up 606 yards of total offense in the win and converted 10-of-13 times on third down.
 
 
What It Means . . .
 
* The FCS Playoffs are down to eight teams, and Eagles advance to the quarterfinals. No. 2 seed Weber State also advanced with a 48-23 win over Southeast Missouri, but Montana State was eliminated with a 52-10 loss at No. 1 North Dakota State. Eastern, making its 13th tournament appearance to rank 12th in FCS history, now have a 17-11 record all-time to rank 11th in wins. Eastern hasn't played a true playoff road game since 2009 when it fell at Stephen F. Austin in the first round, and has gone 11-4 since then with playoff berths in 2010, 2012, 2013, 2014 and 2016. Eastern won the 2010 NCAA Division I title on a neutral field in Frisco, Texas.
 
 
What's Next . . .
 
* Including a 59-20 Eagle victory on Nov. 10, the Eagles have won all seven of the all-time meetings against the Aggies, including the notorious "Fog Bowl" in the first meeting in 2005. That 24-7 game at fog-shrouded Roos Field (then Woodward Field) featured near-zero visibility from the pressbox. It also helped clinch the Big Sky Conference co-championship with Montana and Montana State, and clinch EWU the automatic berth in the NCAA Football Championship Subdivision Playoffs (then known as I-AA). The Bobcats upset Montana 16-6 in Bozeman that same day, opening the door for the Eagles to garner its second-straight league title and playoff berth. The Eagles found out the outcome of the MSU-UM game in the second quarter, then rested many of its starters in the second half. In the other meetings, Eastern won in Cheney in 2007 by a 41-31 score, and then prevailed 31-28 in a Big Sky Conference game in 2012. In 2014, Eastern won at UC Davis 37-14, and romped 63-30 in 2016 in Cheney. The most recent game was a come-from-behind 41-38 victory at UC Davis in 2017.
 
 
Keys to Game . . .
 
* During EWU's 39-point barrage, the Eagles scored three touchdowns on offense and had a 45-yard field goal by Roldan Alcobendas, plus had touchdowns on special teams and defense. Third downs and turnovers were a key in the first half when Nicholls turned an Eastern interception into a quick 7-0 lead. Nicholls converted their first five third downs and were 6-of-8 in the half; EWU was just 1-of-5 but converted its next three. The Colonels also had an eight-play, 75-yard touchdown drive, while EWU had a 17-play, 61-yard drive that ended in a field goal. Both teams had empty drives as well – Eastern had a 54-yard drive ended with a fumble in the Nicholls red zone, then the Colonels had a 68-yard drive ended with a blocked field goal by EWU that was returned for a TD.
 
 
Turning Point . . .
 
* Eastern was out-gained 200-162 in the first half, but the Eagles ended the half with a momentum-changing play on special teams. Junior Dylan Ledbetter blocked a field goal that was picked up by sophomore Kedrick Johnson and returned 55 yards for a touchdown, pulling EWU to within 14-10 at intermission. Eastern then scored the first 10 points of the second half, going on a nine-play 80-yard drive to take its first lead of the game on a 34-yard TD pass from Eric Barriere to Andrew Boston. Kicker Roldan Alcobendas nailed a 45-yard field goal to put EWU up 20-14, then Sam McPherson scored on a pair of touchdown runs, then the 39-point outburst was capped by a Ketner Kupp 95-yard interception return for a TD.
 
 
Top Performers . . .
 
* Senior running back Sam McPherson had 137 rushing yards and two touchdowns versus the Colonels, giving him five 100-yard performances in his career and four this season. He now has 1,145 yards this season, moving into 10th in single season school history.
* In the eighth start of his career and seventh this season, junior Eric Barriere accounted for 216 yards of offense. He was 17-of-29 passing for 162 yards and a touchdown, and added 54 yards on the ground. He is now 7-1 as a starter, including 6-1 this season as an injury replacement for Gage Gubrud.
* Redshirt freshman Andrew Boston had a career-high 89 yards on five receptions with a touchdown.
* Senior Ketner Kupp had his seventh career double-figure tackling game, equaling his career high with 12. He also had a 95-yard interception return for a touchdown, which ranks second in school history. The only return longer was a 96-yarder Maurice Perigo versus Southwest Texas State on Sept. 21, 1996.
* Sophomore linebacker Chris Ojoh made the sixth start of his career and had a career-high 11 tackles.
* Junior Dylan Ledbetter blocked a field goal and finished with a pair of tackles. He now has four blocks in his career, including three blocks this season (Northern Arizona, Weber State, Nicholls).
* Sophomore Kedrick Johnson had a career-high seven tackles to go along with his 55-yard return of a blocked field goal for a touchdown. The return added to an eventful day for Johnson, who was making the first start of his career at rover in place of injured Cole Karstetter.
* Sixth-year senior kicker Roldan Alcobendas kicked field goals of 22 and 45 yards to remain as the only player in FCS to be perfect on the season at 15-for-15. He also converted all four his extra points and punted twice for a 43.5 average, with one downed inside the Nicholls 20-yard line. He now has 103 kick scoring points in 2018 to equal the record set by Josh Atwood in 1997. Alcobendas has a school-record 304 career points which is 10th in Big Sky history.
 

Key Stats . . .
 
* Eastern had a 269-181 advantage in total offense in the second half, and led in the game 431-381. Both teams had 24 first downs, and were nearly identical on third down – Nicholls at 10-of-17 and EWU at 9-of-16. Both the Eagles and Colonels entered the game ranked in the top 25 in both scoring offense and scoring defense, and were also ranked high in overall defense. And both teams also move the sticks – Nicholls entered ranked eighth in FCS in third down conversion, while EWU was 17th; Nicholls entered with the fourth-most first downs in FCS with 290 while EWU was 12th with 262.
 
* Eastern is the only school to rank in the top 15 in the NCAA Football Championship Subdivision in both overall offense and defense, but Nicholls entered with numbers to rival those of the Eagles. Eastern is averaging 553.2 yards on offense to rank second in FCS, broken down with 274.1 rushing (ninth) and 279.1 passing (15th). Defensively, Eastern is allowing 370.0 per game to rank 49th, including 146.7 on the ground (36th) and 223.3 through the air (76th).
 
 
Other Team Highlights . . .
 
* Eastern rushed for 237 yards, giving the Eagles 3,252 on the season, breaking the school record of 3,130 set in 1950.

 
Notables . . .
 
* Although the Eagles adhere to the "next man up" mentality when dealing with injuries, EWU played the Nicholls game without three new senior defensive starters (Mitch Fettig, Keenan Williams, Cole Karstetter) out with injuries. Coupled one other senior defensive starter lost for the season (Kurt Calhoun), two senior offensive starters (Gage Gubrud, Zach Eagle) and one junior offensive starter lost for the year (Tristen Taylor), those seven players have combined for 240 games played and 181 starts in their careers. As a result of the loss of Karstetter at rover, sophomore Kedrick Johnson made the first start of his career against the Colonels.
 
* After winning all five of its regular season home games in 2018 and now a postseason contest, Eastern is now 50-10 overall at Roos Field since 2010. Eastern has lost just six regular season games at "The Inferno" – 40-6 (87.0 percent), plus are 11-4 in playoff games. The only regular season losses at home for EWU since then are to conference foes Montana State (2011), Portland State (2011 and 2015), Northern Arizona (2015) and Weber State (2017), as well as North Dakota State.
 
* In the last 10+ seasons (2008-18), the Eagles are now 58-1 when they've won the turnover battle, 22-6 when they've been tied and 21-31 when they've lost (total of 100-38). The last time EWU lost when it won the turnover battle came in the 2009 FCS Playoffs at Stephen F. Austin when EWU had two miscues and forced four in the 44-33 loss. Thus, EWU is 49-0 since 2010 when they've won the turnover battle, 20-5 when they've been tied and 19-24 when they've lost. That's a collective record of 88-29 (75.2 percent).
 
* Eastern entered the playoffs on a four-game winning streak which included a 219-70 advantage on the scoreboard – an average score of 54-17. Most notably, Eastern is averaging 604.3 yards of offense, compared to 331.5 for opponents, including a 307.2 to 128.3 advantage in rushing. Eastern had more than doubled its opponents in rushing yards (1,229-513) and turnovers forced (13-4).
 
• This is Aaron Best's first playoff appearance as head coach, but 10th overall. He was a player in 1997, then coached in 2004, 2005, 2009, 2010, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2016 and now 2018). He has been a part of 23 playoff games (15-8), with 20 as a coach (13-7) and one as a player (2-1). He has been involved in 19 of those games at home (13-6), just three on the road (1-2) and was offensive coordinator and offensive line coach in 2010 when the Eagles won the NCAA Division I title with a 20-19 victory over Delaware on a neutral field in Frisco, Texas.
 
 
Head Coach Aaron Best Comments . . .
 
On Game: "That's kind of how we've played the entire season. We are good in spurts and then we hit kind of a lull – but we hold tight. We had a couple of guys out and I can't say enough about this crew. We ran the ball really, really well. Sam McPherson is super-human in my mind, and our defense played incredible in the second half."
 
On Fans & Barriere: "The fan base is awesome. They helped us on third down on defense immensely.  It was Eric's first playoff win as well and we'll share it together. He came back (from an early interception) to help us move the sticks on third down and really, really long in a couple of situations. We got a new set of chains because he moved with the ball with his feet. I'm proud and we'll enjoy this one for the night, then we'll get back at work tomorrow."
 
 
EWU Player Sam McPherson:
 
On the Importance of the Win: "This was very important. We wanted to make a statement from last year and show that we deserve this spot in the playoffs. It was huge for us to show that we do belong and can keep going in front of our awesome fans, playing at home is also important.
 
On Play against Nicholls: "I found a lot of open space on the edge a lot, I saw that on film that I could take advantage of that. They are a very good bunch, they play hard and are one of the better teams we've played this season. The scoreboard doesn't show how close it was, we were down early."
 
The Feeling After the Blocked Field Goal: "It's hard not to feel different after a big play like that. Kedrick didn't give it enough credit, that was huge for us and it gave us a spark. Going into halftime, we weren't doing much on offense and from that moment on we were able to do what we were capable of doing."
 
On Setting the School Rushing Record: "It feels awesome. When I first came here we maybe ran the ball 10 times a game, so to set a school record is great. I can't thank our offensive line enough for making holes for us so we can find daylight. We work day in and day out and it's awesome to be a part of that and have our names in the record book."
 
 
EWU Player Kedrick Johnson:
 
On Learning when he was going to Play: "After the Portland State game, I was the next guy up. It felt great, I just had to stick to what I know and what I've been coached to do. I stayed calm and played football."
 
On his "Scoop and Score": "The first thing I thought was, oh my gosh I have the ball in my hand. I couldn't have done it without the defensive line and Dylan Ledbetter blocking the ball. We practice that day in and day out and Coach Best always talks about attacking the opportunity, and that's what we did. We had a lot of changing moments in this game and we all did it together."
 
 
Nicholls Head Coach Tim Rebowe Comments . . .
 
"It's a tough loss. I feel for those guys and the group of seniors that had a fantastic year. It didn't end how we wanted it to end but I'm very proud of them and their effort."
 
On Blocked Field Goal: "It was big, it was a big momentum swing. If you don't make the kick, it's still 14-3 and you get the ball back to start the second half, but when it's blocked and returned it's 14-10 and we couldn't get the momentum back to start the second half. They made a good play and it bounced the right way and it happens sometimes."
 
In the Second Half: "They got momentum in the second half, we couldn't get any rhythm and we got into the fourth quarter and turned the ball over a few times which was uncharacteristic. I thought we played well in the first quarter and were playing fast and making plays, we just didn't make enough plays the rest of the way."
 
On the Seniors: "I'm proud of all the seniors and where they came from and how many games they've won over the year. You always want to say as a player that you left this place better than you found it and those guys definitely did that. Those guys left it all on the field and with great leadership. We didn't lose tonight, we just came up a little bit short. We have a special group, there was a bond in the locker room that they built. They came from nothing and taught each other how to win and how to build a program. I can't say enough or thank them enough for what they did for Nicholls."
 
 
Nicholls Player Chase Fourcade:
 
"We didn't execute in the second half and we didn't do what we were doing after a great first half. Our defense made some good plays and we got points off of turnovers, but we couldn't find our rhythm in the second half. That was a great defense we faced and I thought we had times where we could've made better plays and we came up short."
 
Thoughts at Halftime: "At halftime, we were up 14-10 against the No. 3 team in the nation knowing we were getting the ball back and we were all into it and knew what was at stake with 30 minutes to play. I knew they'd come out ready to fight but we couldn't find the rhythm after the first three and out. Hats off to them, it's just tough right now."

 
Nicholls Player Hezekiah White:
 
On Transforming the Program: "It's bittersweet, I wanted to win today. The whole senior class, coming from where we came from before Coach Rebowe, we've come a long way. Coach Rebowe used to tell us to buy in and I thought we transformed this whole program."
 
On His Career: "From where we came from, this is a blessing. We didn't see light at the end of the tunnel back then and we didn't know what was next for our program without a head coach. To see how far we've come, to the second round of the playoffs, it's amazing."
 
In the Second Half: "It came down to execution, they had momentum, but there were a few times we could've got off the field on third down to stop it. They made plays, and that's to be expected because they have a good football team."